Belarus KGB Security Service Says Lithuanian Spies Arrested

July 12 (Bloomberg) -- Belarus’s security agency, or KGB,
said it broke up a Lithuanian spy ring that sought classified
information on the country’s military and its joint security
system with Russia.

An operative of the Lithuanian military intelligence was
detained simultaneously with members of his espionage network,
the KGB said on its website today. The agency cited the evidence
recovered during a covert operation and confessions made by the
suspects as proof of spying on behalf of neighboring Lithuania.

“All those arrested are citizens of Belarus,” Artur
Strekh, a deputy head of the KGB’s information and public
relations department, said by phone from the capital, Minsk. The
charges against the suspects carry a maximum sentence of 15
years in prison, according to the security service.

The former Soviet republic, ruled for 18 years by President
Aleksandr Lukashenko, is coming off its worst diplomatic crisis
since 2008 after European Union countries pulled out their
ambassadors in February and widened their sanctions against
Belarus in March. Lithuania’s ambassador returned to Minsk about
two months ago.

“The information on the Belarusian KGB official website
doesn’t reflect reality,” said Mindaugas Lasas, spokesman for
the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry. “Such insinuations by the
secret service of a neighboring country don’t foster improvement
in mutual relations.”

A criminal probe was opened against two of those arrested,
Strekh said, declining to specify the total number of detainees.
The arrests took place earlier this year and were disclosed now
after law enforcement exposed the complete circle of people
engaged in espionage, he said.